Public Policy

  • June 03, 2024

    Mich. High Court Keeps $15 Min. Wage Proposal Off Ballot

    An initiative to raise the hourly minimum wage in Michigan to $15 by 2027 will stay off the 2024 ballot, the state Supreme Court ruled, turning down a group's bid to force the state canvassers board to certify the proposal.

  • June 03, 2024

    Senate To Vote On Right To Contraception

    The Senate will vote later this week on a bill to codify a statutory right to contraception, ahead of the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.

  • June 03, 2024

    Atty May Face Suspension In State Street Billing Row

    A Massachusetts disciplinary committee has recommended a six-month suspension for the former managing partner of Thornton Law Firm LLP for his alleged neglect in signing an inflated attorney fees declaration in a class action against State Street.

  • June 03, 2024

    CFPB Unveils Registry To Track Nonbank 'Repeat Offenders'

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Monday finalized plans to begin centrally tracking court and regulatory enforcement orders against nonbank financial firms, issuing a rule that will create a public registry intended to help shine a light on companies that have recurring run-ins with authorities.

  • June 03, 2024

    Chamber Backs Insurers' Suit To Block DOL Fiduciary Rule

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged a Texas federal judge to block recently finalized regulations by the U.S. Department of Labor that expands who is considered a fiduciary under federal benefits law, arguing that the new rule will unnecessarily increase costs for consumers.

  • June 03, 2024

    TIAA Can't Escape Retirees' Rollover Advice Fee Suit

    A New York federal judge refused to toss retirees' suit alleging the Teachers Insurance Annuity Association of America violated federal benefits law by coercing them into transferring their assets into higher-fee managed accounts, finding the retirees' new theory of liability should proceed to discovery.

  • June 03, 2024

    Minn. Tax Court Lowers Home Value Over Native Burial Mound

    The valuation of a lakeside parcel including a legally protected Native American burial mound must be lowered because a split of the property as envisioned by assessors would have been unlikely to gain the needed approvals, the Minnesota Tax Court said.

  • June 03, 2024

    Justices Won't Review Migrant Harboring Convictions

    The U.S. Supreme Court won't review a Kentucky federal jury's verdict convicting two restaurateurs on four counts of harboring unauthorized immigrants, shutting down those business owners' arguments they were not intentionally hiding the migrants from the government.

  • June 03, 2024

    CORRECTED: Justices Delay Cert Decision On OSHA Standard Setting

    The U.S. Supreme Court is holding off on deciding if it will review a split decision from the Sixth Circuit that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's authority to set workplace safety standards is constitutional, a ruling that the lower federal appellate court declined to rehear in December.

  • June 01, 2024

    Blockbuster Summer: 10 Big Issues Justices Still Must Decide

    As the calendar flips over to June, the U.S. Supreme Court still has heaps of cases to decide on issues ranging from trademark registration rules to judicial deference and presidential immunity. Here, Law360 looks at 10 of the most important topics the court has yet to decide.

  • May 31, 2024

    Fiji Water Beats $2M Breach-Of-Contract Verdict On Appeal

    California appellate justices on Thursday dismissed Carolina Beverage's $2 million jury win in a contract case accusing Fiji Water of violating their distribution deal by selling Fiji directly to retailers, finding that the agreement wasn't constructively terminated because Carolina Beverage continued to deliver Fiji products to retailers, pursuant to their contract.

  • May 31, 2024

    Monsanto PCB Plaintiffs Want $185M Wash. Win Restored

    A group of public school teachers is urging the Washington State Supreme Court to review a state appellate court decision overturning their $185 million win in a PCB tort against Monsanto, contending the ruling stifles plaintiffs' rights in cases stemming from the same school site and other product liability litigation.

  • May 31, 2024

    'You Didn't Do It': Antitrust Judge Rips Apple's Doc Production

    A California federal judge deciding whether Apple complied with her ban on App Store anti-steering rules ordered Apple for a second time Friday to produce documents, telling Apple's counsel "the whole point" is to get documents relevant to Apple's decision-making regarding its new 27% fee "and you didn't do it."

  • May 31, 2024

    Colo. AI Bias Law Lays 'Foundation' For New State Patchwork

    Colorado's trailblazing legislation for regulating high-risk uses of artificial intelligence is likely to inspire other states to act, although a host of "reservations" about the measure from advocates and even Colorado's governor are likely to result in a fragmented national landscape as other states' legislatures use the measure as a launching point rather than a model they'd want to fully replicate. 

  • May 31, 2024

    Biden Vetoes Bid To Nix SEC Crypto Accounting Guidance

    President Joe Biden on Friday blocked a Congressional resolution to overturn the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's controversial crypto accounting guidance, saying the measure would "inappropriately constrain" the agency's ability to address future issues.

  • May 31, 2024

    US, Mexico Reach Truce On Steel Factory Labor Violations

    A steel manufacturer in Mexico has agreed to pay a monetary settlement to workers it dismissed in retaliation for their union organizing activity after the United States asked the Mexican government to review the matter, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said.

  • May 31, 2024

    Trade Commission Advances Indian Ceramic Tile Probe

    The four commissioners of the U.S. International Trade Commission voted unanimously Friday to advance anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations into ceramic tile imports from India, backing evidence nine U.S. producers proffered to show harm from the overseas competition.

  • May 31, 2024

    NY Trump Verdict May Make Finding Ga. Jurors Harder

    Former President Donald Trump's felony conviction in New York could make the already daunting task of finding fair and impartial jurors to serve on the jury in the Georgia election interference case even more difficult when it reaches trial, legal experts told Law360 on Friday.

  • May 31, 2024

    States, Energy Organizations Urge Demise Of EPA Water Rule

    Conservative-leaning states and energy industry groups have asked a Louisiana federal judge to strike down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule broadening states' and tribes' power to veto projects like pipelines, export terminals and dams over water quality concerns.

  • May 31, 2024

    DOJ Looks To End A Legacy Of Bias In Sex Assault Cases

    The U.S. Department of Justice says that legal fallacies and misogynistic stereotypes often lead prosecutors to decline to charge alleged perpetrators of sexual violence, but new guidance from the department is pushing prosecutors to give more credence to victims and see that their claims are more thoroughly investigated.

  • May 31, 2024

    Electrolux Calls For Duties On Refrigerators From Thailand

    A subsidiary of Swedish appliance maker Electrolux is calling on the U.S. to place anti-dumping duties on top-freezer refrigerator imports from Thailand, alleging in a duty petition that a surge of unfairly traded imports has been undercutting domestic sales.

  • May 31, 2024

    State Climate Superfund Laws Will Face Fossil Fuel Fightback

    A first-of-its-kind law in Vermont will impose Superfund-like liability and cleanup tabs on fossil fuel companies for climate change-related damages, though legal experts predict the industry will fight such laws as fiercely as it's fought climate tort lawsuits brought by state and local governments.

  • May 31, 2024

    Judge Doubts Okla. Can Stop Title X Cut Over Abortion Stance

    A Tenth Circuit judge appeared skeptical Friday that Oklahoma could prevent federal officials from stripping $4.5 million in funding over the state's refusal to provide abortion referrals, suggesting the state's claim of anti-abortion discrimination is better suited to an attack on Title X writ large.

  • May 31, 2024

    Coinbase Says 'Unworkable' Crypto Enforcement Needs Rules

    Crypto exchange Coinbase told the Third Circuit on Friday that anything less than ordering the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to write rules for digital assets will "abet the dithering and delay" tactics that the regulator is using to "bludgeon" and "cripple" the industry with enforcement cases.

  • May 31, 2024

    Conn. Justices Order Arrested Univ. Employee Reinstated

    Connecticut's highest court on Friday ordered Central Connecticut State University to reinstate an employee who was fired after engaging the police in a nearly three-hour armed standoff, finding an arbitrator's decision to give him his job back did not violate "an explicit, well-defined and dominant public policy."

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Takeaways From FDA's Biosimilars Promotion Guidance

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    New draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expands upon other recent efforts to clarify expectations for biosimilar and interchangeable labeling, highlighting a number of potential missteps that could draw attention from regulators, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • The Legal Issues Raised In Minn. Rate Exportation Opt-Out Bill

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    A recent Minnesota House bill would amend state law by opting out of the federal interest rate preemption and introduce several legal gray areas if passed, including issues regarding loan location, rates on credit card loans and values of state charters, says Karen Grandstrand at Fredrikson & Byron.

  • Rebuttal

    Time For Congress To Let Qualified Older Pilots Keep Flying

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    While a previous Law360 guest article affirmed the current law requiring airline pilots to retire at age 65, the facts suggest that the pilots, their unions, the airlines and the flying public will all benefit if Congress allows experienced, medically qualified aviators to stay in the cockpit, say Allen Baker and Bo Ellis at Let Experienced Pilots Fly.

  • Does Expert Testimony Aid Preliminary IPR Responses?

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    Dechert attorneys analyze six years of patent owners' preliminary responses to inter partes review petitions to determine whether the elimination of the presumption favoring the petitioner as to preinstitution testimonial evidence affected the usefulness of expert testimony in responses.

  • Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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    Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • Are Concessions In FDA's Lab-Developed Tests Rule Enough?

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    Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new policy for laboratory-developed tests included major strategic concessions to help balance patient safety, access and diagnostic innovation, the new rule may well face significant legal challenges in court, say Dominick DiSabatino and Audrey Mercer at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5 Climate Change Regulatory Issues Insurers Should Follow

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    The climate change landscape for insurers has changed dramatically recently — and not just because of the controversy over the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related risk disclosure rules, says Thomas Dawson at McDermott.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • What's Extraordinary About Challenges To SEC Climate Rule

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    A set of ideologically diverse legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure rule have been consolidated in the Eighth Circuit via a seldom-used lottery system, and the unpredictability of this process may drive agencies toward a more cautious future approach to rulemaking, say attorneys at Thompson Coburn.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Key Priorities In FDIC Report On Resolving Big Bank Failures

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    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s report last month on the resolvability of large financial institutions contains little new information, but it does reiterate key policy priorities, including the agency's desire to enhance loss-absorbing capacity through long-term debt requirements and preference for single-point-of-entry resolution strategies, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Best Practices For Space Security In Our Connected World

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    NASA's recently published space security guide is another indication that cyber-resilience has become a global theme for the space and satellite sector, as well as a useful reference for companies and organizations reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks or looking to partner with the U.S. agency, says Hayley Blyth at Bird & Bird.

  • Opinion

    SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

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    Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

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